This invention relates to a multi-layer food product, and more particularly, to a multi-layer gel-based dessert product, such as pudding.
Consumers regularly eat pudding and other gel-based dessert products, some of which are non-dairy based. Consumers"" desire for convenient foods led to the development of such items that require little or no advance preparation by the consumer before eating. Beginning approximately 30 years ago, consumers were offered these types of products in ready-to-eat, single-serve, portable containers. Initially these products were sold as shelf-stable, canned products. These canned products, such as pudding, were subjected to retort processing and did not as closely approximate homemade pudding as did the later developed aseptically packaged puddings.
As consumers begin to have more choices with regard to wholesome, nutritious snacks, manufacturers have developed new markets and innovated to remain competitive in this area. A new market for milk-based pudding and other dessert gels is the entry into the refrigerated section of the supermarket. One of the innovations has been the packaging changeover from opaque plastic to clear plastic cups, allowing the consumer to see that which is being purchased. Industry""s move to clear plastic cups has engendered other innovations, such as the layering of different flavor puddings or other gelled desserts into the same cup or container. These improvements also are being used with shelf-stable puddings and other gel-based desserts that are stored at room temperature for long periods of time.
The color of a food or beverage is one of the first attributes recognized by the senses of the purchaser and intended consumer of the product. Typically, when a manufacturer makes pudding, or other dessert product which has more than one flavor layer, the manufacturer colors the layers differently to make the product more attractive and commercially appealing. Current manufacturing methods have concentrated on using oil or water dispersed lake colorants to produce the desired colors. For example, manufacturers have tried to produce pudding products having a top layer that is red, yellow, or brown color in color next to a bottom layer that is a contrasting color, such as yellow or white. Specific examples include multi-layer pudding products with a bottom layer of banana-yellow with a top layer of cream-white or a bottom layer of apple-yellow and a top layer of golden caramel color.
Color migration can be defined as the mobility of a colorant in a pudding formulation into an adjacent layer of pudding, that it was not intended to be in, that results in the lightening or darkening otherwise distorting of the adjacent layer(s) during the shelf life of the pudding product. In a single flavor/color pudding cup, the migration of color has not been an issue. However, in a multi-layered pudding cup, the migration of the color changes the appearance of the product from what it was intended to be, which results in the product not appearing as it was originally designed to appear to the consumers, and thus has a decreased consumer acceptance. For example, when the bottom layer is a darker color and the top layer is a lighter color, the darker color migrates from the bottom layer up into the upper lighter layer causing it to darken, the lighter color migrates down into the bottom layer causing it to lighten, or both.
For coloring flavor layers outside the caramel color range (e.g., from light yellow to dark brown) colorants typically have been provided by way of alumina-based oil-dispersable lakes comprised of a mix of FDandC dyes (e.g., a combination of Red No. 40 and Blue No. 1). The resulting monochromatic single layer appears to be of uniform coloration. These FDandC lakes are insoluble in oil and water. These traditional oil-dispersable lakes comprised of a mix of FDandC dyes do not work very well with a multi-layer, multi-color pudding, or with other gel-based desserts. The colors tend to migrate, thus bleeding color from one layer to another, therefore they appear undesirable to the consumer.
There has existed a definite need for a method for preparing multi-layered, gel-based dessert products having at least one layer that contains a natural oil soluble color and that exhibits reduced migration into adjacent layer(s). This present invention satisfies these and other needs.
In accordance with the invention, there has been found a way to reduce color migration in multi-layer food products, such as dessert products from gels having a continuous aqueous phase and a dispersed colloidal oil phase. In one embodiment, the invention is directed to a multi-layer food product comprising a first milk-based, gel-based layer containing a dispersed oil phase and an oil soluble color within the oil phase. The first gel-based layer has a first color. A second gel-based layer, preferably also a milk-based layer, is adjacent the first gel-based layer. The second gel-based layer has a second color different from the first color. Migration of the oil-soluble food color from the first gel-based layer into the second gel-based layer is minimized. To further minimize color migration, the second gel-based layer can also contain a dispersed oil phase and an oil soluble color within the oil phase. The gel-based layers of the products of the invention preferably comprise pudding or yogurt.
Representative natural, oil soluble colors include beta-carotene, annatto, paprika oleoresin, or lycopene, either alone or in combination. In some embodiments, the layer that contains the natural oil soluble colorant also contains a caramel colorant, preferably a negatively charged caramel colorant having a weight average molecular weight of between about 200,000 Daltons and 650,000 Daltons, present in an amount between about 0.02% and about 0.08% by weight.
The multi-layer gel-based dessert products are made by introducing a gel-based dessert product containing the first colorant into a container to form a first layer and then introducing additional gel-based product containing the second colorant into the container to form a second layer adjacent to the first. The resulting multi-layer product exhibits reduced color migration between the two layers.